City v United: Is this the most important Manchester derby ever?

MEN writer James Robson previews the Manchester derby and says it is not only the most significant match between City and United during Sir Alex Ferguson's 24-year reign, but the most valuable in the fixture's 116-year history.

Twenty-four years – that’s how long Sir Alex Ferguson has waited for the Manchester derby to take on a greater significance than merely that of a local slanging match.

Not that the 156th meeting between red and blue isn’t as personal as it gets. But for the first time since he walked through the doors at Old Trafford on November 6, 1986, Ferguson goes head-to-head with City in a match that will have a direct impact on both sides’ title ambitions.

It is not only the most significant derby in his reign, but the most valuable in its 116-year history.

Never has so much been at stake.

But while the worth of Premier League success, Champions League qualification, television money and Far East shirt sales will all be taken seriously by the bean counters at each club – perhaps more so by those at United – it is the intangible value of tomorrow night’s result that is most intriguing.

It is the knock-on effect of victory or defeat that will have not only the rest of the Premier League, but the world at large glued to the drama.

Rivals

These days the Manchester derby is not confined to its city walls – it reverberates far and wide.

Title rivals Chelsea and Arsenal will be praying for a draw, which is a measure of just how far City have come thanks to Sheikh Mansour’s millions.

When have they ever gone into a derby without every neutral becoming an adopted blue for the day?

But with Roberto Mancini’s side sitting fourth in the table, five points off the top, messrs Ancelotti and Wenger would no sooner see City given a title leg-up than United.

The winners of the Premier League can expect to earn in the region of £50m, including international television rights. Around the same again could be expected from a successful Champions League campaign – and that’s before taking into account gate receipts and merchandising revenue.

In truth, such figures seem small fry compared to the Abu Dhabi millions City have splashed out on Carlos Tevez, Yaya Toure and Mario Balotelli.

Which is why the value of the derby goes far beyond pounds and pence to anyone at Eastlands.

For Mancini, three points against United will be a serious psychological blow to their dominant rivals.

It would be further evidence too that their ambitions this season go beyond a top four finish, rather a genuine title challenge.

If Carlos Tevez’ desertion was a flesh wound to the Old Trafford empire, City have yet to inflict a mortal blow.

Explosive

Instead it was United who silenced their “noisy neighbours” with a league double last season, while also ensuring City’s wait for a first major trophy since 1976 was extended by at least one more year with the Carling Cup semi-final triumph.

The drama in four explosive matches – United clinching three last-gasp victories – have whet the appetite for what’s to come, with Mansour once again providing whatever funds necessary to redress the balance.

That would have stretched to enough money to convince Wayne Rooney to swap red for blue – a move that would have forced even the most one-eyed United fan to admit the much-vaunted shift in power is more than just a sound bite.

Instead the Rooney wrangle has had a galvanising effect on Ferguson’s team.

While performances like Saturday’s victory against Wolves mean it is premature to proclaim the empire has struck back, United have somehow stumbled their way to within two points of Chelsea – with Ferguson enjoying his longest unbeaten run at the start of any season since taking charge.

That is the measure of the challenge that faces City.

United is a monument to a near quarter of a century of Ferguson’s attention to detail.

Battle

For all the undoubted concerns about the financial state of the club, given the debts accrued by the Glazers, its foundations are rock solid.

Even when they’re bad, they’re still better than most, which is why City will have to chip away, rather than storm the gates in one go.

They’re getting there.

Tomorrow night they will field a team worth around £190m – the most expensive they’ve ever sent out to do battle with United.

Ferguson, meanwhile, shorn of stars like Rooney, Nani and Antonio Valencia, will name a considerably more modest starting XI, still heavily reliant on the ageing legs of Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs.

Those two veterans proved key figures in United’s two league wins last season, but it will take the majority of the £100m-plus that chief executive, David Gill, says Ferguson has to spend in the transfer market to replace them. If City’s shopping spree over the past two years has proved anything, it’s that money alone won’t guarantee you that sort of quality.

Which is the greatest concern at Old Trafford. What happens when the old stagers have gone?

Do they have the resources to find the players who can get fans in and out of their seats like Scholes and Giggs have done for the best part of 20 years?

A look at both sides tomorrow and it will be City’s whose boasts the greatest star appeal.

Those with a blue disposition will argue they are in the ascendancy – United in decline.

The last derby of 2010 presents both sides with an opportunity to make a statement of their intentions. Will it be a case of the new blue order or the red army marching on?

Bonfire night might have been and gone – but now it’s time for the real fireworks to begin.